John Daly Gets Back in the Swing — on His Own Terms, of Course

John Daly at a PGA Tour Champions event in July in Endicott, N.Y. He draws big crowds on the tour, but his best finish is a tie for 11th.CreditChris Condon/PGA Tour, via Getty Images

By Adam Schupak

Feb. 20, 2017

NAPLES, Fla. — Even at 50 years old, John Daly still draws a crowd. During the Chubb Classic pro-am on Thursday, grown men begged for selfies or a signature. One supporter of retirement age stammered like a schoolboy at his first dance, saying, “Mr. Daly, can I shake your hand?” As soon as Daly released his grip, the fan turned to his wife and said, “O.K., honey, we can go now.”

No matter what he shoots, Daly, who finished at five-under-par 211 and tied for 30th place on Sunday, is the main attraction on the PGA Tour Champions. He is among a few players — Fred Couples, this week’s champion, is arguably another — who not only draw the biggest share of the gallery on the course, but whose very presence at a tournament also attracts swarms of fans through the gate.

“More people watch him load his car than watch me shoot 66,” said Paul Goydos, a four-time winner on the senior tour.

Having squandered the bulk of his winnings and endorsement earnings to multiple divorces and gambling losses, Daly may be one of the few successful golfers from the big-money era who need to chase prize money at 50. And the PGA Tour Champions needs Daly as much as he needs it.

“I don’t know what I can bring to the Champions Tour, but it seems like I’m bringing something,” Daly said. “But it doesn’t do any good if I don’t play decent golf. I mean, I want to play great golf out here.”

Daly’s arrival on the senior scene in May was one of the most heralded in years. He was expected to pump life into a tour short on star power. Nick Faldo and Paul Azinger largely bypassed the over-50 circuit, preferring television commentating careers; Greg Norman focused on business pursuits. That leaves space for the likes of Doug Garwood, Mike Goodes and P. H. Horgan III, who are the first to say they are not legends.

Last week, at the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, Fla., Daly made the wrong sort of splash. He withdrew from the tournament after the seventh hole of the final round on Sunday. He said he was suffering from sciatic nerve pain.

As he was walked off the green after his second straight bogey, he tossed his putter behind his back, and the club bounced off the ground and into the lake behind the green. Daly said he had been trying to throw the club to his caddie, who was not looking.

“If I’m going to throw a putter, I’m going to throw it 60 yards into the lake and it’s going to be in two pieces,” he said. “That was just a freak accident.”

Such behavior is nothing new for Daly, who in his autobiography admitted to being suspended for conduct unbecoming a professional “more times than you’ve had hot dinners.”

With his booming drives, Daly led the tour in driving distance from 1991 through 2002, and gained instant fame as winner of the 1991 P.G.A. Championship as the ninth alternate. When Daly triumphed at the 1995 British Open, he filled the claret jug with chocolate ice cream and chocolate sauce. He became one of 10 golfers to win two majors before age 30. That elite group includes Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller and Tiger Woods.

Life as an overnight sensation took its toll on Daly, who battled addictions to alcohol and gambling.

He admittedly squandered his talent, his fortune and more second chances than he rightfully deserved. But for all his scars and imperfections, Daly remains a beloved figure.

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John Daly during the second round of the United States Senior Open in August in Columbus, Ohio. He missed the cut.CreditGregory Shamus/Getty Images

“He’s got a heart bigger than his body,” said Bill Hughes, general manager of T.P.C. Southwind in Memphis from 1996 to 1999, when Daly was a resident and member there. “Sometimes your biggest asset can also be your biggest weakness, and I think that’s the case with John Daly. It took him down a road into some very dark places.”

Fuzzy Zoeller, a longtime friend and a two-time major winner, once bet Daly $150,000 that he would not live long enough to be eligible for the PGA Tour Champions.

“He even said he thought it was 40,” Daly said with a chuckle. “He gave me a big bottle of vodka, and he made a good point. He said, ‘If you would have died, you wouldn’t have been able to pay me anyway, so here.’”

Flush with money, Daly never had trouble finding a suitably irresponsible companion to raise some hell. Twice he went to rehab, including in 1997 at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Hughes, now the general manager of T.P.C. Sawgrass, home of the Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., was part of Daly’s support group. At T.P.C. Southwind, Daly’s friends purchased 1,000 divot repair tools inscribed with the words “Stay Straight John,” and Daly kept them in a bowl on his coffee table at home.

But Daly followed a crooked path. Several years ago, Hughes bumped into Daly at the AT&T Byron Nelson at T.P.C. Four Seasons Resort, and their conversation was short and direct.

“I asked him how he was doing,” Hughes recalled. “He answered me point-blank: ‘I came into this world with nothing and I’m going to go out with nothing, and I’m going to have one helluva time in between.’ I shook his hand and said, ‘God bless you, I get it now.’”

Daly does not swim in regret. He admits he still smokes two packs a day, guzzles Diet Cokes and enjoys the occasional cocktail.

“Everything is so exaggerated in my life,” he said. “I do drink a little bit, but I’m not one of these guys that drink every day. I’m pretty much maybe twice a month if I get around my buddies; we’ll have a few cocktails. Sometimes in the pro-ams if they’re really long and it’s hot, might have a couple of beers, which is great out here. But it’s not like what people perceive it to be.”

Daly last won on the PGA Tour in 2004 at the Buick Invitational. He would like nothing more than to be back in the trophy hunt. Daly still possesses the length to manhandle the senior circuit’s shorter courses, but his silky stroke on the greens has abandoned him. Woody Austin, a three-time winner since turning 50, questioned Daly’s desire.

“The biggest thing with him is, where is the ‘fight meter’?” Austin said. “It’s not a lack of talent with John. It comes down to, does he want it?”

Since turning 50, Daly has quickly discovered that to move the needle, he will have to do more than just show up in outlandish outfits and entertain his legion of fans. So far, his best finish in 18 starts is a share of 11th place.

Veterans of the senior tour say that a grace period should be expected, and compare it to being a rookie all over again, learning courses and adjusting to the 54-hole tournament format.

“My game is not where I want it, so it’s more of a grind and it’s very hard to enjoy it as much as guys that are playing really good out here,” Daly said. “They come in, they’re playing really good, they’ve got confidence. I’m just coming in trying to find it, you know.”

Daly knows his best opportunity to win and replenish his bank account is now, during his early 50s. But to hear Daly tell it, there may still be time yet.

“I’m only 18 with 32 years of experience, is the way I look at it,” Daly said.